Service request procedures in information centric networking for next generation cellular networks

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments of this disclosure include apparatuses and methods for making a service request in Information Centric Networking (ICN) for next generation cellular networks. The apparatuses and methods can include at least generating, by a user equipment (UE), a service request message comprising access network (AN) parameters and service request parameters, wherein the AN parameters include a fifth generation-system architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, or an establishment cause; and transmitting, by the UE, the service request message to a next-generation NodeB (gNB).

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/805,834, filed Feb. 14, 2019, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wirelesscommunications.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of this disclosure include apparatuses and methods forservice request procedures in information centric networking for nextgeneration cellular networks.

Some embodiments are direct to a method for operating a system formaking a service request in Information Centric Networking (ICN) fornext generation cellular networks. The method can include: generating,by a user equipment (UE), a service request message comprising accessnetwork (AN) parameters and service request parameters, wherein the ANparameters include a fifth generation-system architectureevolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, aselected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, or anestablishment cause; and transmitting, by the UE, the service requestmessage to a next-generation NodeB (gNB).

The service request parameters can include security parameters.

The service request message can be triggered for requesting data, andwherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.

The service request message can be transmitted via a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signal.

The method can further comprise responding to a RRC connectionreconfiguration from the gNB, wherein the RRC connection reconfigurationis based on ICN information.

The method can further comprise the RRC connection reconfiguration andthe ICN information are based on an N2 Request received by the gNB, theN2 Request including one or more of information from ICN-CF, securitycontext, mobility restriction list, subscribed UE-Aggregate Minimum BitRate (AMBR), Mobility Management (MM) Non-Access Stratum (NAS) ServiceAccept, list of recommended cells, UE radio capability, core networkassistance information and tracing requirements.

The method can further comprise forwarding uplink data to the gNB usinguser plane radio resources resulting from the RRC connectionreconfiguration.

Some embodiments are directed to a non-transitory computer readablemedium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by asystem for making a service request in Information Centric Networking(ICN) for next generation cellular networks, cause the system to performoperations including: generating a service request message comprisingaccess network (AN) parameters and service request parameters, whereinthe AN parameters include a fifth generation-system architectureevolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, aselected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, or anestablishment cause; and transmitting the service request message to anext-generation NodeB (gNB).

The service request parameters can include security parameters.

The service request message can be triggered for requesting data, andwherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.

The service request message can be transmitted via a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signal.

The non-transitory computer readable medium can include operationsfurther comprising responding to a RRC connection reconfiguration fromthe gNB, wherein the RRC connection reconfiguration is based on ICNinformation.

The non-transitory computer readable medium can include operationswherein the RRC connection reconfiguration and the ICN information arebased on an N2 Request received by the gNB, the N2 Request including oneor more of information from ICN-CF, security context, mobilityrestriction list, subscribed UE-Aggregate Minimum Bit Rate (AMBR),Mobility Management (MM) Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Service Accept, listof recommended cells, UE radio capability, core network assistanceinformation and tracing requirements.

The non-transitory computer readable medium can include operationsfurther comprising forwarding uplink data to the gNB using user planeradio resources resulting from the RRC connection reconfiguration.

Embodiments are directed to a system for making a service request inInformation Centric Networking (ICN) for next generation cellularnetworks. The system can include processor circuitry configured togenerate a service request message comprising access network (AN)parameters and service request parameters, wherein the AN parametersinclude a fifth generation-system architecture evolution-temporarymobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public landmobile network (PLMN) identifier, or an establishment cause. The systemcan further include radio frequency circuitry, coupled to the processorcircuitry, configured to transmit the service request message to anext-generation NodeB (gNB).

The service request parameters can include security parameters.

The service request message can be triggered for requesting data, andwherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.

The service request message can be transmitted via a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signal.

The processor circuitry can be further configured to respond to a RRCconnection reconfiguration from the gNB, wherein the RRC connectionreconfiguration is based on ICN information.

The RRC connection reconfiguration and the ICN information can be basedon an N2 Request received by the gNB, the N2 Request including one ormore of information from ICN-CF, security context, mobility restrictionlist, subscribed UE-Aggregate Minimum Bit Rate (AMBR), MobilityManagement (MM) Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Service Accept, list ofrecommended cells, UE radio capability, core network assistanceinformation and tracing requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates an ICN request and response for content deliveryaccording to embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a forwarding process at a node according toembodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an architecture to support ICN in nextgeneration cellular networks according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a procedure used by a user equipment (UE) inconnection management-CONNECTED (CM-CONNECTED) to request activation ofa User Plane and to respond to a non-access stratum (NAS) Notificationmessage from the access and mobility management function (AMF) accordingto embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a procedure that may be used when thenetwork needs to signal with a UE according to various embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example system architecture according toembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example system architecture according toembodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example system architecture according toembodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary infrastructureequipment according to embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary platform accordingto embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of baseband circuitry and front endmodules according to embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary protocol functions thatmay be implemented in a wireless communication device according toembodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary core network componentsaccording to embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of system components for supportingnetwork function virtualization according to embodiments

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system thatcan be utilized to implement various embodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method of operating the system according toembodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates a further method of operating the system accordingto embodiments.

The features and advantages of the embodiments will become more apparentfrom the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunctionwith the drawings, in which like reference characters identifycorresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, like referencenumbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/orstructurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element firstappears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the correspondingreference number.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Discussion of Embodiments

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase“A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B).

The current information centric network (ICN) architecture is based onthe Internet Protocol (IP) and is host-centric. Thus, the communicationis host-to-host and content delivery relies on sessions between two endpoints. Bottlenecks can be created anywhere in the network becausemultiple users might be requesting the same content but the network hasno knowledge of this, causing a non-optimal utilization of the linkresources. In ICN, access to content is performed through a pull-basedmodel, where a client (also known as a “Consumer”) sends interestpackets to the network requesting a given content and the networkreplies with the content that was requested (sending data packets).

FIG. 1 illustrates an ICN request and response for content deliveryaccording to embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, a data packet follows thesame reverse path as its corresponding interest packet. When a Consumerrequests data, the data can come from the server (also known as a“Producer”) or from a node that has a cached copy of the data.

FIG. 2 illustrates a forwarding process 200 at a node according toembodiments. The process to retrieve data is as follows: i) when a nodereceives an ICN interest packet, it checks its Content Store (CS) to seewhether it already has the content cached; ii) if not, the interestpacket is passed to the Pending Interest Table (PIT) to find a matchingname; iii) if no match is found, the node records the interest in itsPIT and forwards the interest to the next hop(s) towards the requestedcontent based on the information in its Forwarding Information Base(FIB).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an architecture to support ICN in nextgeneration cellular networks according to various embodiments. In thisexample, the ICN-PoA 302 serves as the first ICN-aware user plane entityfor UEs running ICN applications/services. The ICN-GW 304 is a userplane ICN entity that interfaces with the DN. It should be noted thatthe ICN-GW 304 and the UPF PSA (PDU Session Anchor) could be in the sameentity. That is, an ICN-GW/UPF entity could be instantiated, where thefunctionality of the ICN-GW 304 could be part of the UPF (PSA). TheICN-CF 306 handles the ICN related information and policy, generates ICNtransaction history among other ICN related functionalities. Theseentities are functional entities and may be implemented in existing 5GCentities.

Cellular networks follow a structured set of procedures to provideservices. FIG. 3 presents a novel architecture to support InformationCentric Networking in Next Generation Cellular Networks, but currentService Request Procedures cannot handle ICN services. Accordingly,changes are needed to the 5G system procedures. In this disclosure,changes to handle service request are addressed and new/updated ServiceRequest procedures are presented.

Conventional systems may support ICN in LTE networks. However, suchsystems do not provide details about the procedures and how they mightchange in LTE networks that support ICN. Likewise, there are noprocedures to handle service request for ICN services in next generationcellular networks and all of the existing ICN approaches assume thatthere that there is connectivity at the link level and interest packetsare transmitted by the consumer (UE). When the UE is a producer (i.e.,the UE generates content), it is assumed that the UE is in active modeall the time.

The architecture to support ICN in next generation cellular networks, asshown above in FIG. 3, needs procedures to handle different systemaspects. Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosuredescribe Service Request procedures, including: i) a UE TriggeredService Request, which is used when the UE is a consumer, and ii) aNetwork Triggered Service Request, which is used when the UE is aproducer. Embodiments of the present disclosure help enable efficientsupport for ICN in Next Generation Cellular Networks.

The Service Request procedure may be used by a UE in CM IDLE state orthe 5GC to request the establishment of a secure connection to an AMF.The Service Request procedure may also be used both when the UE is inCM-IDLE and in CM-CONNECTED to activate a User Plane.

Procedure 1: Request Activation

FIG. 4 illustrates a procedure used by a user equipment (UE) inconnection management-CONNECTED (CM-CONNECTED) to request activation ofa User Plane and to respond to a non-access stratum (NAS) Notificationmessage from the access and mobility management function (AMF) accordingto embodiments. This procedure (referred to as “Procedure 1”) is ageneralization, such that all entities/functions in the control planeinvolved on enabling services are included (e.g., PCF, AUSF). The stepsof Procedure 1 are described below.

Steps of Procedure 1:

Step 1: UE to NG-RAN: UE sends an access network (AN) message to NG-RANthat includes: AN parameters (e.g., 5G-S-TMSI, Selected PLMN ID andEstablishment cause), Service Request (security parameters). The UEsends the Service Request message towards the access management function(AMF) encapsulated in an RRC message to the NG-RAN.

If the Service Request is triggered by the UE for user data, the UEidentifies the ICN context information such as ICN names known (at themoment) to be used by the UE when requesting/consuming data and ICNnames to be used by the UE when producing data in Service Requestmessage. If the Service Request is triggered by the UE for signalingonly, the UE doesn't identify any ICN names. If this procedure istriggered for paging response, and the UE has at the same time some userdata to be transferred, the UE identifies the ICN names in ServiceRequest message.

Step 2: NG-RAN to AMF: N2 Message (N2 parameters, Service Request). TheN2 parameters include the 5G-S-TMSI, Selected PLMN ID, Locationinformation and Establishment cause, UE Context Request. If the UE is inCM-IDLE state, the NG-RAN obtains the 5G-S-TMSI in RRC procedure. NG-RANselects the AMF according to 5G-S-TMSI. The Location Information relatesto the cell in which the UE is camping. Based on the ICN contextinformation provided by the UE, the AMF may initiate the registration ofthe ICN names in the ICN-CF.

Step 3: If the Service Request was not sent integrity protected orintegrity protection verification failed, the AMF may initiate an NASauthentication/security procedure. If the UE in CM-IDLE state triggeredthe Service Request to establish a signaling connection only, aftersuccessful establishment of the signaling connection the UE and thenetwork can exchange NAS signaling and steps 4 to 10 are skipped.

Step 4: [Conditional] AMF to ICN-CF: Nicn-cf_ICN_Context_Info Create(names/prefixes of the data the UE will be producing, Operation Type(including, but not limited to, Consumer/Producer/both, UE locationinformation, Access Type, RAT Type). AMF sends aNicn-cf_ICN_Context_Info Create to ICN-CF for an assignment of ICN-PoAand to register ICN names when the UE is a producer. However, since theICN name creation can be a dynamic process in the UE (at the applicationlevel), the ICN name registration can occur more often than the ServiceRequest Procedures. Therefore, a separate IDF is being prepared tomanage ICN name registration.

Step 5: [Conditional] ICN-CF to PCF: If the AMF notified the ICN-CF thatthe access type of the UE can be changed in step 4, and if PCC isdeployed, the ICN-CF performs an ICN-CF initiated ICN Policy AssociationModification if Policy Control Request Trigger condition(s) have beenmet (i.e. change of Access Type). The PCF may provide updated PCCRule(s).

Step 6: [Conditional] ICN-CF to ICN-PoA: I4 ICN Info Create. ICN-CFassigns an ICN-PoA to handle the UE's ICN traffic, and sends out relatedICN information, including names that the UE is producing to update therouting tables, to the ICN-PoA through I4.

Step 7: [Conditional] ICN-PoA to ICN-CF: I4 ICN Info Response. ICN-PoAsends to ICN-CF a response about whether the assignment was successfullyexecuted for the ICN-PoA to handle UE.

Step 8: [Conditional] ICN-CF to ICN-GW: I4 ICN Info Create. When UE is aproducer and registered the names it will use for the content it isproducing, ICN-CF communicates to ICN-GW about these names for theICN-GW to allow interest packets for those names to enter to the corenetwork (CN). Additionally, the names, along with other ICN informationcan be used to trigger route updates.

Step 9: [Conditional] ICN-GW to ICN-CF: I4 ICN Info Response. ICN-GWsends to ICN-CF an acknowledgement about whether it properly receivedand configured the names.

Step 10: [Conditional] ICN-CF to AMF: ICN-CF sendsNicn-cf_ICN_Context_Info Response indicating the assigned ICN-PoA toserve the UE.

Step 11: AMF to NG-RAN: N2 Request (information received from ICN-CF,security context, Mobility Restriction List, Subscribed UE-AMBR, MM NASService Accept, list of recommended cells/TAs/NG-RAN node identifiers,UE Radio Capability, Core Network Assistance Information, TracingRequirements).

If the UE triggered the Service Request while in CM-CONNECTED state,only information received from ICN-CF and MM NAS Service Accept areincluded in the N2 Request.

If the Service Request procedure is triggered by the Network while theUE is in CM-CONNECTED state, only information received from ICN-CF isincluded in the N2 Request.

Step 12: NG-RAN to UE: The NG-RAN performs RRC ConnectionReconfiguration with the UE depending on the ICN Information. After theUser Plane radio resources are setup, the uplink data from the UE can beforwarded to NG-RAN. The NG-RAN sends the uplink data to the assignedICN-PoA.

Step 13: [Conditional] NG-RAN to AMF: N2 Request Ack. The message mayinclude ICN information such as confirmation that communication toICN-PoA what properly configured in the NG-RAN.

Procedure 2: Network Triggered Service Request (UE is a Producer)

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a procedure that may be used when thenetwork needs to signal with a UE according to various embodiments. Thesteps of the procedure (referred to as “Procedure 2”) are describedbelow:

Steps of Procedure 2:

Step 1: When an ICN-GW receives downlink data (e.g. interest packet) andthere is no information stored in ICN-GW for the ICN name that is beingrequested, the ICN-GW may buffer the interest packets (downlink data)until it confirms whether the requested ICN name exists in the corenetwork or is produced by a UE. If the content for the ICN name is notproduced by any UE nor being cache in the core network, the ICN-GWresponds with a NACK packet to the DN.

Step 2: ICN-GW to ICN-CF: An I4 ICN Info Request message that includesthe ICN name of the interest packet is sent to the ICN-CF.

Step 3a: [Conditional] ICN-CF to AMF: If ICN-CF has the ICN nameregistered in its database and there is not a cache copy of the data inany ICN router in the core network, the ICN-CF sends Namf_CommunicationN1N2MessageTransfer (SUPI, ICN name requested, Paging Policy Indicator,N1N2TransferFailure Notification Target Address) to the AMF. Note that,since the ICN name creation can be a dynamic process in the UE (at theapplication level), the ICN name registration can occur more often thanthe Service Request Procedures. Therefore, a separate IDF is beingprepared to manage ICN name registration.

Step 3b: [conditional] The AMF responds to the ICN-CF.

If the UE is in CM-IDLE state at the AMF, and the AMF is able to pagethe UE, the AMF sends a Namf_Communication N1N2MessageTransfer responseto the ICN-CF immediately with a cause “Attempting to reach UE”. If theUE is in CM-CONNECTED state at the AMF then the AMF sends aNamf_Communication N1N2MessageTransfer response to the SMF immediatelywith a cause “N1/N2 transfer success”.

Step 4: ICN-CF to ICN-GW: An I4 ICN Info Response message is sent toICN-GW indicating whether the ICN name is registered in the networkalong with other ICN information related to the requested ICN name. Ifthe ICN name is not registered, the ICN-GW responds with a NACK packetto the DN and all steps below are skipped.

If the ICN name is registered in the network and the ICN-CF is awarethat an ICN router has a copy of the data in its cache that complieswith all requirements of the interest packet (e.g., name, contentfreshness, etc.), the ICN-GW forwards the interest packet towards theICN router and all steps below are skipped. If the ICN name isregistered in the network, the ICN-GW keeps the interest packet in itsbuffer until step 8 (Service Request Procedure) is executed.

Step 5: [Conditional] If the UE is in CM-IDLE state in 3GPP access andbased on local policy the AMF decides to notify the UE through 3GPPaccess even when UE is in CM-CONNECTED state for non-3GPP access, theAMF may send a Paging message to NG-RAN node(s) via 3GPP access.

Step 6: [Conditional] AMF to ICN-CF: Namf_Communication N1N2TransferFailure Notification. The AMF supervises the paging procedure with atimer. If the AMF receives no response from the UE to the Paging Requestmessage, the AMF may apply further paging according to any applicablepaging strategy. The AMF notifies the ICN-CF by sendingNamf_Communications N1N2MessageTransfer Failure Notification if the UEdoes not respond to paging, unless the AMF is aware of an ongoing MMprocedure that prevents the UE from responding, i.e. the AMF receives anN14 Context Request message indicating that the UE performs Registrationprocedure with another AMF.

Step 7: If the UE is in CM-IDLE state in 3GPP access, upon reception ofpaging request, the UE shall initiate the UE Triggered Service Requestprocedure (section 5.1.2 Procedure 1).

Step 8: The ICN-GW transmits the buffered downlink data (e.g., Interestpacket) towards UE via NG-RAN node which performed the Service Requestprocedure.

Systems and Implementations

FIG. 6 illustrates an example architecture of a system 600 of a network,in accordance with various embodiments. The following description isprovided for an example system 600 that operates in conjunction with theLTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards as provided by 3GPPtechnical specifications. However, the example embodiments are notlimited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to othernetworks that benefit from the principles described herein, such asfuture 3GPP systems (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like.

As shown by FIG. 6, the system 600 includes UE 601 a and UE 601 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 601” or “UE 601”). In this example,UEs 601 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asconsumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobiledata terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS),electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/engine controlmodules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules,engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart” appliances, MTCdevices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 601 may be IoT UEs, which maycomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologiessuch as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC server or device viaa PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks.The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange ofdata. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which mayinclude uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within theInternet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs mayexecute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, statusupdates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 601 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycouple, with an or RAN 610. In embodiments, the RAN 610 may be an NG RANor a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. Asused herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 610 thatoperates in an NR or 5G system 600, and the term “E-UTRAN” or the likemay refer to a RAN 610 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 600. The UEs601 utilize connections (or channels) 603 and 604, respectively, each ofwhich comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussedin further detail below).

In this example, the connections 603 and 604 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and/or any of the othercommunications protocols discussed herein. In embodiments, the UEs 601may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 605. TheProSe interface 605 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface605 and may comprise one or more logical channels, including but notlimited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 601 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 606 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 606,” “WLAN 606,” “WLAN Termination 606,” “WT606” or the like) via connection 607. The connection 607 can comprise alocal wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 606 would comprise a wireless fidelity(Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 606 is shown to be connected tothe Internet without connecting to the core network of the wirelesssystem (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, theUE 601 b, RAN 610, and AP 606 may be configured to utilize LWA operationand/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation may involve the UE 601 b in RRCCONNECTED being configured by a RAN node 611 a-b to utilize radioresources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve the UE 601 b usingWLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 607) via IPsec protocol tunnelingto authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over theconnection 607. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entiretyof original IP packets and adding a new packet header, therebyprotecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 610 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 611 a and 611b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 611” or “RAN node 611”) thatenable the connections 603 and 604. As used herein, the terms “accessnode,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment that providesthe radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity betweena network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred toas BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs, and so forth,and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) orsatellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., acell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the like may refer to aRAN node 611 that operates in an NR or 5G system 600 (for example, agNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may refer to a RAN node611 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 600 (e.g., an eNB). Accordingto various embodiments, the RAN nodes 611 may be implemented as one ormore of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station,and/or a low power (LP) base station for providing femtocells, picocellsor other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In some embodiments, all or parts of the RAN nodes 611 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN orvBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP split whereinRRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2 protocolentities are operated by individual RAN nodes 611; a MAC/PHY splitwherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUPand the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 611; or a “lowerPHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of thePHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHYlayer are operated by individual RAN nodes 611. This virtualizedframework allows the freed-up processor cores of the RAN nodes 611 toperform other virtualized applications. In some implementations, anindividual RAN node 611 may represent individual gNB-DUs that areconnected to a gNB-CU via individual Fl interfaces (not shown by FIG.6). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or more remoteradio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 9), and the gNB-CU may be operatedby a server that is located in the RAN 610 (not shown) or by a serverpool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 611 may be next generationeNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 601, and areconnected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 820 of FIG. 8) via an NG interface(discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios one or more of the RAN nodes 611 may be or act as RSUs.The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs 601(vUEs 601). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry tostore intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well asapplications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular andpedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation, and may include a network interface controller to providea wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controllerand/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 611 can terminate the air interface protocol andcan be the first point of contact for the UEs 601. In some embodiments,any of the RAN nodes 611 can fulfill various logical functions for theRAN 610 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC)functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamicradio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobilitymanagement.

In embodiments, the UEs 601 can be configured to communicate using OFDMcommunication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 611over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with variouscommunication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonalsubcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 611 to the UEs 601, while uplinktransmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be atime-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resourcegrid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Sucha time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDMsystems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Eachcolumn and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symboland one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource gridin the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. Thesmallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resourceelement. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, whichdescribe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements.Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in thefrequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resourcesthat currently can be allocated. There are several different physicaldownlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, the UEs 601, and the RAN nodes 611,612 communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) data over alicensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/or the“licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to asthe “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”). The licensedspectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range ofapproximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensedspectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 601, and the RAN nodes611, 612 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. In theseimplementations, the UEs 601, and the RAN nodes 611, 612 may perform oneor more known medium-sensing operations and/or carrier-sensingoperations in order to determine whether one or more channels in theunlicensed spectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupied prior totransmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensingoperations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT)protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 601, RAN nodes611, 612, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel or carrierfrequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when aspecific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The mediumsensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED todetermine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel in orderto determine if a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanismallows cellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIEEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as UE 601 or AP 606, or the like) intends to transmit,the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, abackoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions in situations where morethan one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the sametime. The backoff mechanism may be a counter that is drawn randomlywithin the CWS, which is increased exponentially upon the occurrence ofcollision and reset to a minimum value when the transmission succeeds.The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA/CA ofWLAN. In some implementations, the LBT procedure for DL or ULtransmission bursts including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions,respectively, may have an LAA contention window that is variable inlength between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimum and maximumvalues for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for an LAAtransmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWSand a MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based ongovernmental regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a CC. A CC mayhave a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz and a maximum of fiveCCs can be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregated bandwidth is100

MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can be differentfor DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than thenumber of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCs can havea different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDD systems, the number of CCsas well as the bandwidths of each CC is usually the same for DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL, andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 601 to undergo a handover. In LAA,eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in the unlicensedspectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCells are assistedby a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configuredwith more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on theconfigured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positionswithin a same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 601.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 601 about the transport format, resource allocation,and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically,downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resourceblocks to the UE 601 b within a cell) may be performed at any of the RANnodes 611 based on channel quality information fed back from any of theUEs 601. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on thePDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 601.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHcan be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that usesPDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may betransmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above, each ECCE maycorrespond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as anEREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN nodes 611 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 612. In embodiments where the system 600 is an LTE system(e.g., when CN 620 is an EPC 720 as in FIG. 7), the interface 612 may bean X2 interface 612. The X2 interface may be defined between two or moreRAN nodes 611 (e.g., two or more eNBs and the like) that connect to EPC620, and/or between two eNBs connecting to EPC 620. In someimplementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface(X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provideflow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred over the X2interface, and may be used to communicate information about the deliveryof user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specificsequence number information for user data transferred from a MeNB to anSeNB; information about successful in sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs toa UE 601 from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCP PDUs that werenot delivered to a UE 601; information about a current minimum desiredbuffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE user data; and thelike. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functionality,including context transfers from source to target eNBs, user planetransport control, etc.; load management functionality; as well asinter-cell interference coordination functionality.

In embodiments where the system 600 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN620 is an 5GC 820 as in FIG. 8), the interface 612 may be an Xninterface 612. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes611 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connect to 5GC 620,between a RAN node 611 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 620 and an eNB,and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 620. In some implementations,the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xncontrol plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteeddelivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide data forwarding and flowcontrol functionality. The Xn-C may provide management and errorhandling functionality, functionality to manage the Xn-C interface;mobility support for UE 601 in a connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED)including functionality to manage the UE mobility for connected modebetween one or more RAN nodes 611. The mobility support may includecontext transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 611 to new(target) serving RAN node 611; and control of user plane tunnels betweenold (source) serving RAN node 611 to new (target) serving RAN node 611.A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport network layer builton Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of aUDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stackmay include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as XnApplication Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer that isbuilt on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer, and may providethe guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transportIP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliver the signalingPDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and/or the Xn-Cprotocol stack may be same or similar to the user plane and/or controlplane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 610 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network—inthis embodiment, core network (CN) 620. The CN 620 may comprise aplurality of network elements 622, which are configured to offer variousdata and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g.,users of UEs 601) who are connected to the CN 620 via the RAN 610. Thecomponents of the CN 620 may be implemented in one physical node orseparate physical nodes including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments,NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the above-describednetwork node functions via executable instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). Alogical instantiation of the CN 620 may be referred to as a networkslice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 620 may bereferred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architectures andinfrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions,alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resourcescomprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storagehardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be used toexecute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

Generally, the application server 630 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 630can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 601 via the EPC 620.

In embodiments, the CN 620 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC 620” or thelike), and the RAN 610 may be connected with the CN 620 via an NGinterface 613. In embodiments, the NG interface 613 may be split intotwo parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 614, which carries trafficdata between the RAN nodes 611 and a UPF, and the S1 control plane(NG-C) interface 615, which is a signaling interface between the RANnodes 611 and AMFs. Embodiments where the CN 620 is a 5GC 620 arediscussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 8.

In embodiments, the CN 620 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC 620” orthe like), while in other embodiments, the CN 620 may be an EPC). WhereCN 620 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 620” or the like), the RAN 610 maybe connected with the CN 620 via an S1 interface 613. In embodiments,the S1 interface 613 may be split into two parts, an S1 user plane(S1-U) interface 614, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes611 and the S-GW, and the S1-MME interface 615, which is a signalinginterface between the RAN nodes 611 and MMEs. An example architecturewherein the CN 620 is an EPC 620 is shown by FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example architecture of a system 700 including afirst CN 720, in accordance with various embodiments. In this example,system 700 may implement the LTE standard wherein the CN 720 is an EPC720 that corresponds with CN 620 of FIG. 6. Additionally, the UE 701 maybe the same or similar as the UEs 601 of FIG. 6, and the E-UTRAN 710 maybe a RAN that is the same or similar to the RAN 610 of FIG. 6, and whichmay include RAN nodes 611 discussed previously. The CN 720 may compriseMMEs 721, an S-GW 722, a P-GW 723, a HSS 724, and a SGSN 725.

The MMEs 721 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacySGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the currentlocation of a UE 701. The MMEs 721 may perform various MM procedures tomanage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and trackingarea list management. MM (also referred to as “EPS MM” or “EMM” inE-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, datastorage, etc. that are used to maintain knowledge about a presentlocation of the UE 701, provide user identity confidentiality, and/orperform other like services to users/subscribers. Each UE 701 and theMME 721 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context may beestablished in the UE 701 and the MME 721 when an attach procedure issuccessfully completed. The MM context may be a data structure ordatabase object that stores MM-related information of the UE 701. TheMMEs 721 may be coupled with the HSS 724 via an S6a reference point,coupled with the SGSN 725 via an S3 reference point, and coupled withthe S-GW 722 via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 725 may be a node that serves the UE 701 by tracking thelocation of an individual UE 701 and performing security functions. Inaddition, the SGSN 725 may perform Inter-EPC node signaling for mobilitybetween 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selectionas specified by the MMEs 721; handling of UE 701 time zone functions asspecified by the MMEs 721; and MME selection for handovers to E-UTRAN3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MMEs 721 and theSGSN 725 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPPaccess network mobility in idle and/or active states.

The HSS 724 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The EPC 720 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 724 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc. An Sha reference point between the HSS 724 and theMMEs 721 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data forauthenticating/authorizing user access to the EPC 720 between HSS 724and the MMEs 721.

The S-GW 722 may terminate the S1 interface 613 (“S1-U” in FIG. 7)toward the RAN 710, and routes data packets between the RAN 710 and theEPC 720. In addition, the S-GW 722 may be a local mobility anchor pointfor inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor forinter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawfulintercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The S11 referencepoint between the S-GW 722 and the MMEs 721 may provide a control planebetween the MMEs 721 and the S-GW 722. The S-GW 722 may be coupled withthe P-GW 723 via an S5 reference point.

The P-GW 723 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN 730. The P-GW723 may route data packets between the EPC 720 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 630 (alternativelyreferred to as an “AF”) via an IP interface 625 (see e.g., FIG. 6). Inembodiments, the P-GW 723 may be communicatively coupled to anapplication server (application server 630 of FIG. 6 or PDN 730 in FIG.7) via an IP communications interface 625 (see, e.g., FIG. 6). The S5reference point between the P-GW 723 and the S-GW 722 may provide userplane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 723 and the S-GW722. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 722 relocation dueto UE 701 mobility and if the S-GW 722 needs to connect to anon-collocated P-GW 723 for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW 723may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging datacollection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi referencepoint between the P-GW 723 and the packet data network (PDN) 730 may bean operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra operator packetdata network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The P-GW 723may be coupled with a PCRF 726 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 726 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 720. In anon-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 726 in the Home PublicLand Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE 701's Internet ProtocolConnectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario withlocal breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE701′s IP-CAN session, a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a VisitedPCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). ThePCRF 726 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 730via the P-GW 723. The application server 730 may signal the PCRF 726 toindicate a new service flow and select the appropriate QoS and chargingparameters. The PCRF 726 may provision this rule into a PCEF (not shown)with the appropriate TFT and QCI, which commences the QoS and chargingas specified by the application server 730. The Gx reference pointbetween the PCRF 726 and the P-GW 723 may allow for the transfer of QoSpolicy and charging rules from the PCRF 726 to PCEF in the P-GW 723. AnRx reference point may reside between the PDN 730 (or “AF 730”) and thePCRF 726.

FIG. 8 illustrates an architecture of a system 800 including a second CN820 in accordance with various embodiments. The system 800 is shown toinclude a UE 801, which may be the same or similar to the UEs 601 and UE701 discussed previously; a (R)AN 810, which may be the same or similarto the RAN 610 and RAN 710 discussed previously, and which may includeRAN nodes 611 discussed previously; and a DN 803, which may be, forexample, operator services, Internet access or 3rd party services; and a5GC 820. The 5GC 820 may include an AUSF 822; an AMF 821; a SMF 824; aNEF 823; a PCF 826; a NRF 825; a UDM 827; an AF 828; a UPF 802; and aNSSF 829.

The UPF 802 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RATmobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to DN 803, and abranching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 802 may alsoperform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection,enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets(UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handlingfor a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rateenforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, andperform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering. UPF 802 may include an uplink classifier to support routingtraffic flows to a data network. The DN 803 may represent variousnetwork operator services, Internet access, or third party services. DN803 may include, or be similar to, application server 630 discussedpreviously. The UPF 802 may interact with the SMF 824 via an N4reference point between the SMF 824 and the UPF 802.

The AUSF 822 may store data for authentication of UE 801 and handleauthentication-related functionality. The AUSF 822 may facilitate acommon authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 822may communicate with the AMF 821 via an N12 reference point between theAMF 821 and the AUSF 822; and may communicate with the UDM 827 via anN13 reference point between the UDM 827 and the AUSF 822. Additionally,the AUSF 822 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 821 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., forregistering UE 801, etc.), connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-relatedevents, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 821 may bea termination point for the an N11 reference point between the AMF 821and the SMF 824. The AMF 821 may provide transport for SM messagesbetween the UE 801 and the SMF 824, and act as a transparent proxy forrouting SM messages. AMF 821 may also provide transport for SMS messagesbetween UE 801 and an SMSF (not shown by FIG. 8). AMF 821 may act asSEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 822 and the UE 801,receipt of an intermediate key that was established as a result of theUE 801 authentication process. Where USIM based authentication is used,the AMF 821 may retrieve the security material from the AUSF 822. AMF821 may also include a SCM function, which receives a key from the SEAthat it uses to derive access-network specific keys. Furthermore, AMF821 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may includeor be an N2 reference point between the (R)AN 810 and the AMF 821; andthe AMF 821 may be a termination point of NAS (N1) signalling, andperform NAS ciphering and integrity protection.

AMF 821 may also support NAS signalling with a UE 801 over an N3 IWFinterface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrustedentities. N3IWF may be a termination point for the N2 interface betweenthe (R)AN 810 and the AMF 821 for the control plane, and may be atermination point for the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 810 andthe UPF 802 for the user plane. As such, the AMF 821 may handle N2signalling from the SMF 824 and the AMF 821 for PDU sessions and QoS,encapsulate/de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnelling, mark N3user-plane packets in the uplink, and enforce QoS corresponding to N3packet marking taking into account QoS requirements associated with suchmarking received over N2. N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS signalling between the UE 801 and AMF 821 via an N1reference point between the UE 801 and the AMF 821, and relay uplink anddownlink user-plane packets between the UE 801 and UPF 802. The N3IWFalso provides mechanisms for IPsec tunnel establishment with the UE 801.The AMF 821 may exhibit an Namf service-based interface, and may be atermination point for an N14 reference point between two AMFs 821 and anN17 reference point between the AMF 821 and a 5G-EIR (not shown by FIG.8).

The UE 801 may need to register with the AMF 821 in order to receivenetwork services. RM is used to register or deregister the UE 801 withthe network (e.g., AMF 821), and establish a UE context in the network(e.g., AMF 821). The UE 801 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state or anRM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 801 is notregistered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 821 holds novalid location or routing information for the UE 801 so the UE 801 isnot reachable by the AMF 821. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 801 isregistered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 821 may hold avalid location or routing information for the UE 801 so the UE 801 isreachable by the AMF 821. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 801 mayperform mobility Registration Update procedures, perform periodicRegistration Update procedures triggered by expiration of the periodicupdate timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 801 is stillactive), and perform a Registration Update procedure to update UEcapability information or to re-negotiate protocol parameters with thenetwork, among others.

The AMF 821 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 801, where eachRM context is associated with a specific access to the network. The RMcontext may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicates orstores, inter alia, a registration state per access type and theperiodic update timer. The AMF 821 may also store a 5GC MM context thatmay be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. Invarious embodiments, the AMF 821 may store a CE mode B Restrictionparameter of the UE 801 in an associated MM context or RM context. TheAMF 821 may also derive the value, when needed, from the UE's usagesetting parameter already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RMcontext).

CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection betweenthe UE 801 and the AMF 821 over the N1 interface. The signalingconnection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 801and the CN 820, and comprises both the signaling connection between theUE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for the UE 801 between the AN (e.g., RAN810) and the AMF 821. The UE 801 may operate in one of two CM states,CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE 801 is operating in theCM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 801 may have no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 821 over the N1 interface, and there may be(R)AN 810 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for theUE 801. When the UE 801 is operating in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode, theUE 801 may have an established NAS signaling connection with the AMF 821over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 810 signaling connection(e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for the UE 801. Establishment of an N2connection between the (R)AN 810 and the AMF 821 may cause the UE 801 totransition from CM-IDLE mode to CM-CONNECTED mode, and the UE 801 maytransition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode when N2signaling between the (R)AN 810 and the AMF 821 is released.

The SMF 824 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment,modify and release, including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node);UE IP address allocation and management (including optionalauthorization); selection and control of UP function; configuringtraffic steering at UPF to route traffic to proper destination;termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controllingpart of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events andinterface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages;downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sentvia AMF over N2 to AN; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM mayrefer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” mayrefer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables theexchange of PDUs between a UE 801 and a data network (DN) 803 identifiedby a Data Network Name (DNN). PDU sessions may be established upon UE801 request, modified upon UE 801 and 5GC 820 request, and released uponUE 801 and 5GC 820 request using NAS SM signaling exchanged over the N1reference point between the UE 801 and the SMF 824. Upon request from anapplication server, the 5GC 820 may trigger a specific application inthe UE 801. In response to receipt of the trigger message, the UE 801may pass the trigger message (or relevant parts/information of thetrigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE 801.The identified application(s) in the UE 801 may establish a PDU sessionto a specific DNN. The SMF 824 may check whether the UE 801 requests arecompliant with user subscription information associated with the UE 801.In this regard, the SMF 824 may retrieve and/or request to receiveupdate notifications on SMF 824 level subscription data from the UDM827.

The SMF 824 may include the following roaming functionality: handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAB (VPLMN); charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN); lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI system); and support for interaction with externalDN for transport of signalling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN. An N16 reference pointbetween two SMFs 824 may be included in the system 800, which may bebetween another SMF 824 in a visited network and the SMF 824 in the homenetwork in roaming scenarios. Additionally, the SMF 824 may exhibit theNsmf service-based interface.

The NEF 823 may provide means for securely exposing the services andcapabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party,internal exposure/re-exposure, Application Functions (e.g., AF 828),edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, theNEF 823 may authenticate, authorize, and/or throttle the AFs. NEF 823may also translate information exchanged with the AF 828 and informationexchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 823 maytranslate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GCinformation. NEF 823 may also receive information from other networkfunctions (NFs) based on exposed capabilities of other networkfunctions. This information may be stored at the NEF 823 as structureddata, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The storedinformation can then be re-exposed by the NEF 823 to other NFs and AFs,and/or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF823 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 825 may support service discovery functions, receive NFdiscovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of thediscovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 825 also maintainsinformation of available NF instances and their supported services. Asused herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like mayrefer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 825 may exhibit theNnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 826 may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) toenforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to governnetwork behaviour. The PCF 826 may also implement an FE to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of theUDM 827. The PCF 826 may communicate with the AMF 821 via an N15reference point between the PCF 826 and the AMF 821, which may include aPCF 826 in a visited network and the AMF 821 in case of roamingscenarios. The PCF 826 may communicate with the AF 828 via an N5reference point between the PCF 826 and the AF 828; and with the SMF 824via an N7 reference point between the PCF 826 and the SMF 824. Thesystem 800 and/or CN 820 may also include an N24 reference point betweenthe PCF 826 (in the home network) and a PCF 826 in a visited network.Additionally, the PCF 826 may exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 827 may handle subscription-related information to support thenetwork entities' handling of communication sessions, and may storesubscription data of UE 801. For example, subscription data may becommunicated between the UDM 827 and the AMF 821 via an N8 referencepoint between the UDM 827 and the AMF. The UDM 827 may include twoparts, an application FE and a UDR (the FE and UDR are not shown by FIG.8). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 827and the PCF 826, and/or structured data for exposure and applicationdata (including PFDs for application detection, application requestinformation for multiple UEs 801) for the NEF 823. The Nudrservice-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM827, PCF 826, and NEF 823 to access a particular set of the stored data,as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe tonotification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include aUDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, locationmanagement, subscription management and so on. Several different frontends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FEaccesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performsauthentication credential processing, user identification handling,access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscriptionmanagement. The UDR may interact with the SMF 824 via an N10 referencepoint between the UDM 827 and the SMF 824. UDM 827 may also support SMSmanagement, wherein an SMS-FE implements the similar application logicas discussed previously. Additionally, the UDM 827 may exhibit the Nudmservice-based interface.

The AF 828 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provideaccess to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policycontrol. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 820 and AF 828to provide information to each other via NEF 823, which may be used foredge computing implementations. In such implementations, the networkoperator and third party services may be hosted close to the UE 801access point of attachment to achieve an efficient service deliverythrough the reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transportnetwork. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF802 close to the UE 801 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 802 toDN 803 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscriptiondata, UE location, and information provided by the AF 828. In this way,the AF 828 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based onoperator deployment, when AF 828 is considered to be a trusted entity,the network operator may permit AF 828 to interact directly withrelevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 828 may exhibit an Naf service-basedinterface.

The NSSF 829 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE801. The NSSF 829 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping tothe subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 829 may also determine theAMF set to be used to serve the UE 801, or a list of candidate AMF(s)821 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF825. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 801may be triggered by the AMF 821 with which the UE 801 is registered byinteracting with the NSSF 829, which may lead to a change of AMF 821.The NSSF 829 may interact with the AMF 821 via an N22 reference pointbetween AMF 821 and NSSF 829; and may communicate with another NSSF 829in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown by FIG. 8).Additionally, the NSSF 829 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

As discussed previously, the CN 820 may include an SMSF, which may beresponsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relayingSM messages to/from the UE 801 to/from other entities, such as anSMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS-router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 821 andUDM 827 for a notification procedure that the UE 801 is available forSMS transfer (e.g., set a UE not reachable flag, and notifying UDM 827when UE 801 is available for SMS).

The CN 120 may also include other elements that are not shown by FIG. 8,such as a Data Storage system/architecture, a 5G-EIR, a SEPP, and thelike. The Data Storage system may include a SDSF, an UDSF, and/or thelike. Any NF may store and retrieve unstructured data into/from the UDSF(e.g., UE contexts), via N18 reference point between any NF and the UDSF(not shown by FIG. 8). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing theirrespective unstructured data or individual NFs may each have their ownUDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally, the UDSF mayexhibit an Nudsf service-based interface (not shown by FIG. 8). The5G-EIR may be an NF that checks the status of PEI for determiningwhether particular equipment/entities are blacklisted from the network;and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topologyhiding, message filtering, and policing on inter-PLMN control planeinterfaces.

Additionally, there may be many more reference points and/orservice-based interfaces between the NF services in the NFs; however,these interfaces and reference points have been omitted from FIG. 8 forclarity. In one example, the CN 820 may include an Nx interface, whichis an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 721) and the AMF 821in order to enable interworking between CN 820 and CN 720. Other exampleinterfaces/reference points may include an N5g-EIR service-basedinterface exhibited by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between the NRFin the visited network and the NRF in the home network; and an N31reference point between the NS SF in the visited network and the NS SFin the home network.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 900 inaccordance with various embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 900(or “system 900”) may be implemented as a base station, radio head, RANnode such as the RAN nodes 611 and/or AP 606 shown and describedpreviously, application server(s) 630, and/or any other element/devicediscussed herein. In other examples, the system 900 could be implementedin or by a UE.

The system 900 includes application circuitry 905, baseband circuitry910, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 915, memory circuitry920, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 925, power teecircuitry 930, network controller circuitry 935, network interfaceconnector 940, satellite positioning circuitry 945, and user interface950. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include additional elementssuch as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, orinput/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the componentsdescribed below may be included in more than one device. For example,said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device forCRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 905 includes circuitry such as, but not limited toone or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, I²C or universal programmable serialinterface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input/output (I/O or IO),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile IndustryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 905 may be coupled with or may include memory/storage elementsand may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 900. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 905 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. Insome embodiments, the application circuitry 905 may comprise, or may be,a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according to thevarious embodiments herein. As examples, the processor(s) of applicationcircuitry 905 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon®processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s),Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors; ARM-basedprocessor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd. such as the ARM Cortex-Afamily of processors and the ThunderX2® provided by Cavium™, Inc.; aMIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS WarriorP-class processors; and/or the like. In some embodiments, the system 900may not utilize application circuitry 905, and instead may include aspecial-purpose processor/controller to process IP data received from anEPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 905 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (FPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 905 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In suchembodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 905 may includememory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 910 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 910 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 11.

User interface circuitry 950 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 900 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 900. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a nonvolatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 915 may comprise a millimeter wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g.,antenna array 1111 of FIG. 11 infra), and the RFEM may be connected tomultiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM915, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 920 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 920 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 925 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 930 may provide for electrical powerdrawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 900 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 935 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 900 via network interfaceconnector 940 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 935 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 935 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 945 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 945comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some embodiments, the positioning circuitry 945 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 945 may also be partof, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 910 and/or RFEMs 915 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 945 may also provide position data and/or timedata to the application circuitry 905, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes 611,etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 9 may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a platform 1000 (or “device 1000”) inaccordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the computerplatform 1000 may be suitable for use as UEs 601, 701, applicationservers 630, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. Theplatform 1000 may include any combinations of the components shown inthe example. The components of platform 1000 may be implemented asintegrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1000, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 10 is intended to show a high level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 1000. However, some of thecomponents shown may be omitted, additional components may be present,and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

Application circuitry 1005 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general purpose I/O, memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 1005 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 1000. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 905 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 905may comprise, or may be, a special-purpose processor/controller tooperate according to the various embodiments herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 1005 may includean Intel® Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, anAtom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another suchprocessor available from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. Theprocessors of the application circuitry 1005 may also be one or more ofAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or AcceleratedProcessing Units (APUs); A5-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc.,Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., TexasInstruments, Inc.® Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™processor(s); a MIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such asMIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors;an ARM-based design licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARMCortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M family of processors; or the like. Insome implementations, the application circuitry 1005 may be a part of asystem on a chip (SoC) in which the application circuitry 1005 and othercomponents are formed into a single integrated circuit, or a singlepackage, such as the Edison™ or Galileo™ SoC boards from Intel®Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 1005 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 1005 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric, and otherinterconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitryof application circuitry 1005 may include memory cells (e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory(e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used tostore logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs)and the like.

The baseband circuitry 1010 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 1010 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 11.

The RFEMs 1015 may comprise a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g., antenna array 1111 of FIG.11 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1015, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 1020 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 1020 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 1020 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 1020 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 1020 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 1005. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 1020 may include one or more mass storage devices,which may include, inter alia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), harddisk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 1000 may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 1023 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 1000. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 1000 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 1000. The externaldevices connected to the platform 1000 via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 1021 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)1022, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 1023.

The sensor circuitry 1021 include devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (IMUS) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 1022 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 1000 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 1022may be configured to generate and send messages/signalling to othercomponents of the platform 1000 to indicate a current state of the EMCs1022. Examples of the EMCs 1022 include one or more power switches,relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid staterelays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In embodiments,platform 1000 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1022 based onone or more captured events and/or instructions or control signalsreceived from a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1000 with positioning circuitry 1045. The positioning circuitry1045 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 1045 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments,the positioning circuitry 1045 may include a Micro-PNT IC that uses amaster timing clock to perform position tracking/estimation without GNSSassistance. The positioning circuitry 1045 may also be part of, orinteract with, the baseband circuitry 910 and/or RFEMs 1015 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 1045 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 1005, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio basestations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications, or the like

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1000 with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 1040. NFCcircuitry 1040 is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 1040 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 1000(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 1040 comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 1040 by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by theprocessor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmwaremay be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element toemit short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag(e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmitstored data to the NFC circuitry 1040, or initiate data transfer betweenthe NFC circuitry 1040 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphoneor an NFC-enabled POS terminal) that is proximate to the platform 1000.

The driver circuitry 1046 may include software and hardware elementsthat operate to control particular devices that are embedded in theplatform 1000, attached to the platform 1000, or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the platform 1000. The driver circuitry1046 may include individual drivers allowing other components of theplatform 1000 to interact with or control various input/output (I/O)devices that may be present within, or connected to, the platform 1000.For example, driver circuitry 1046 may include a display driver tocontrol and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver tocontrol and allow access to a touchscreen interface of the platform1000, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 1021and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 1021, EMC drivers toobtain actuator positions of the EMCs 1022 and/or control and allowaccess to the EMCs 1022, a camera driver to control and allow access toan embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allowaccess to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 1025 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 1025”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 1000. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 1010, the PMIC 1025 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 1025 may often be included when the platform 1000 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 1030, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 601, 701.

In some embodiments, the PMIC 1025 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1000. For example, ifthe platform 1000 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 1000 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform1000 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 1000 goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 1000 maynot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 1030 may power the platform 1000, although in some examplesthe platform 1000 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 1030 maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1030may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 1030 may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 1000 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1030.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1030 toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 1030. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 1030 to the application circuitry 1005 orother components of the platform 1000. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry1005 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1030 or the currentflow from the battery 1030. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 1000 may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 1030. In some examples,the power block 1030 may be replaced with a wireless power receiver toobtain the power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 1000. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 1030, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 1050 includes various input/output (I/O)devices present within, or connected to, the platform 1000, and includesone or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 1000 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 1000. The userinterface circuitry 1050 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 1000. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someembodiments, the sensor circuitry 1021 may be used as the input devicecircuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device, or thelike) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output device circuitry(e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). In anotherexample, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled with anantenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 1000 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems may beincluded, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 11 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry 1110 andradio front end modules (RFEM) 1115 in accordance with variousembodiments. The baseband circuitry 1110 corresponds to the basebandcircuitry 910 and 1010 of FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively. The RFEM 1115corresponds to the RFEM 915 and 1015 of FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively. Asshown, the RFEMs 1115 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1106,front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1108, antenna array 1111 coupledtogether at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 1110 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 1106. The radio control functions may include, but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 1110 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 1110 may include convolution, tail-bitingconvolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulationand encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples andmay include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. Thebaseband circuitry 1110 is configured to process baseband signalsreceived from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1106 and togenerate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry1106. The baseband circuitry 1110 is configured to interface withapplication circuitry 905/1005 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) for generation andprocessing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of theRF circuitry 1106. The baseband circuitry 1110 may handle various radiocontrol functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 1110 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 1104A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 1104B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 1104C, or some other baseband processor(s) 1104D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments,some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 1104A-D may beincluded in modules stored in the memory 1104G and executed via aCentral Processing Unit (CPU) 1104E. In other embodiments, some or allof the functionality of baseband processors 1104A-D may be provided ashardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with theappropriate bit streams or logic blocks stored in respective memorycells. In various embodiments, the memory 1104G may store program codeof a real-time OS (RTOS), which when executed by the CPU 1104E (or otherbaseband processor), is to cause the CPU 1104E (or other basebandprocessor) to manage resources of the baseband circuitry 1110, scheduletasks, etc. Examples of the RTOS may include Operating System Embedded(OSE)™ provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS™ provided by Mentor Graphics®,Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor Graphics®,ThreadX™ provided by Express Logic®, FreeRTOS, REX OS provided byQualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel (OK) Labs®, or any othersuitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the basebandcircuitry 1110 includes one or more audio digital signal processor(s)(DSP) 1104F. The audio DSP(s) 1104F include elements forcompression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include othersuitable processing elements in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, each of the processors 1104A-1104E includerespective memory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory1104G. The baseband circuitry 1110 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to thebaseband circuitry 1110; an application circuitry interface tosend/receive data to/from the application circuitry 905/1005 of FIGS.9-11); an RF circuitry interface to send/receive data to/from RFcircuitry 1106 of FIG. 11; a wireless hardware connectivity interface tosend/receive data to/from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g.,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® LowEnergy components, Wi-Fi® components, and/or the like); and a powermanagement interface to send/receive power or control signals to/fromthe PMIC 1025.

In alternate embodiments (which may be combined with the above describedembodiments), baseband circuitry 1110 comprises one or more digitalbaseband systems, which are coupled with one another via an interconnectsubsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interfacesubsystem. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to adigital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem viaanother interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems mayinclude a bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSPcircuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speech processing acceleratorcircuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital anddigital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one ormore of amplifiers and filters, and/or other like components. In anaspect of the present disclosure, baseband circuitry 1110 may includeprotocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of controlcircuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digitalbaseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., the radiofront end modules 1115).

Although not shown by FIG. 11, in some embodiments, the basebandcircuitry 1110 includes individual processing device(s) to operate oneor more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocolbaseband processor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individualprocessing device(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In theseembodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radiocontrol functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processingcircuitry operates or implements various protocol layers/entities of oneor more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, theprotocol processing circuitry may operate LTE protocol entities and/or5G/NR protocol entities when the baseband circuitry 1110 and/or RFcircuitry 1106 are part of mmWave communication circuitry or some othersuitable cellular communication circuitry. In the first example, theprotocol processing circuitry would operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC,and NAS functions. In a second example, the protocol processingcircuitry may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols when the basebandcircuitry 1110 and/or RF circuitry 1106 are part of a Wi-Ficommunication system. In the second example, the protocol processingcircuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC)functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or morememory structures (e.g., 1104G) to store program code and data foroperating the protocol functions, as well as one or more processingcores to execute the program code and perform various operations usingthe data. The baseband circuitry 1110 may also support radiocommunications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 1110 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrateincluding one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged ICsoldered to a main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry1110 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset, or disposedon a same circuit board. In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 1110 and RF circuitry1106 may be implemented together such as, for example, a system on achip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or allof the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1110 may beimplemented as a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with andRF circuitry 1106 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 1106). In yetanother example, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 1110 and the application circuitry 905/1005 may beimplemented together as individual SoCs mounted to a same circuit board(e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1110 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1110 may supportcommunication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN. Embodimentsin which the baseband circuitry 1110 is configured to support radiocommunications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to asmulti-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 1106 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 1106 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 1106 may include a receive signal path,which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 1108 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 1110. RF circuitry 1106 may also include a transmit signalpath, which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signalsprovided by the baseband circuitry 1110 and provide RF output signals tothe FEM circuitry 1108 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1106may include mixer circuitry 1106A, amplifier circuitry 1106B and filtercircuitry 1106C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 1106 may include filter circuitry 1106C and mixer circuitry1106A. RF circuitry 1106 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1106Dfor synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1106A of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 1106A of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1108 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1106D. Theamplifier circuitry 1106B may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1106C may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 1110 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1106A of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1106A of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1106D togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1108. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1110 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 1106C.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1106A of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 1106A of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1106A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry1106A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1106A of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 1106A of the transmit signal path may be arrangedfor direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1106A of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 1106A of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 1106 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry1110 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 1106.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1106D may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 1106D may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 1106D may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1106A of the RFcircuitry 1106 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1106D may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1110 orthe application circuitry 905/1005 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplication circuitry 905/1005.

Synthesizer circuitry 1106D of the RF circuitry 1106 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1106D may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 1106 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 1108 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 1111, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1106 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 1108 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 1106 for transmission by oneor more of antenna elements of antenna array 1111. In variousembodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signalpaths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 1106, solely in the FEMcircuitry 1108, or in both the RF circuitry 1106 and the FEM circuitry1108.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1108 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 1108 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1108 may include anLNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1106). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 1108 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1106), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmissionby one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1111.

The antenna array 1111 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 1110 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 1111 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges as are known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 1111 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 1111 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 1106 and/or FEM circuitry 1108 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 905/1005 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 1110 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 1110, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 905/1005 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received fromthese layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP andUDP layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 12 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implementedin a wireless communication device according to various embodiments. Inparticular, FIG. 12 includes an arrangement 1200 showinginterconnections between various protocol layers/entities. The followingdescription of FIG. 12 is provided for various protocol layers/entitiesthat operate in conjunction with the 5G/NR system standards and LTEsystem standards, but some or all of the aspects of FIG. 12 may beapplicable to other wireless communication network systems as well.

The protocol layers of arrangement 1200 may include one or more of PHY1210, MAC 1220, RLC 1230, PDCP 1240, SDAP 1247, RRC 1255, and NAS layer1257, in addition to other higher layer functions not illustrated. Theprotocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g.,items 1259, 1256, 1250, 1249, 1245, 1235, 1225, and 1215 in FIG. 12)that may provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

The PHY 1210 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 1205 thatmay be received from or transmitted to one or more other communicationdevices. The physical layer signals 1205 may comprise one or morephysical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 1210 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC 1255. The PHY 1210 may still further perform error detectionon the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation ofphysical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. In embodiments, an instance ofPHY 1210 may process requests from and provide indications to aninstance of MAC 1220 via one or more PHY-SAP 1215. According to someembodiments, requests and indications communicated via PHY-SAP 1215 maycomprise one or more transport channels.

Instance(s) of MAC 1220 may process requests from, and provideindications to, an instance of RLC 1230 via one or more MAC-SAPs 1225.These requests and indications communicated via the MAC-SAP 1225 maycomprise one or more logical channels. The MAC 1220 may perform mappingbetween the logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MACSDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY1210 via the transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from TBs delivered from the PHY 1210 via transportchannels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through HARQ, and logical channelprioritization.

Instance(s) of RLC 1230 may process requests from and provideindications to an instance of PDCP 1240 via one or more radio linkcontrol service access points (RLC-SAP) 1235. These requests andindications communicated via RLC-SAP 1235 may comprise one or more RLCchannels. The RLC 1230 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 1230 may execute transfer of upper layerprotocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation, segmentation andreassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers. The RLC 1230 mayalso execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers,reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicatedata for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM datatransfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLCre-establishment.

Instance(s) of PDCP 1240 may process requests from and provideindications to instance(s) of RRC 1255 and/or instance(s) of SDAP 1247via one or more packet data convergence protocol service access points(PDCP-SAP) 1245. These requests and indications communicated viaPDCP-SAP 1245 may comprise one or more radio bearers. The PDCP 1240 mayexecute header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCPSequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUsat re-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layerSDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protectionand integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-baseddiscard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instance(s) of SDAP 1247 may process requests from and provideindications to one or more higher layer protocol entities via one ormore SDAP-SAP 1249. These requests and indications communicated viaSDAP-SAP 1249 may comprise one or more QoS flows. The SDAP 1247 may mapQoS flows to DRBs, and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and ULpackets. A single SDAP entity 1247 may be configured for an individualPDU session. In the UL direction, the NG-RAN 610 may control the mappingof QoS Flows to DRB(s) in two different ways, reflective mapping orexplicit mapping. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 1247 of a UE 601 maymonitor the QFIs of the DL packets for each DRB, and may apply the samemapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, the SDAP1247 of the UE 601 may map the UL packets belonging to the QoS flows(s)corresponding to the QoS flow ID(s) and PDU session observed in the DLpackets for that DRB. To enable reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 810 maymark DL packets over the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. The explicitmapping may involve the RRC 1255 configuring the SDAP 1247 with anexplicit QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, which may be stored and followedby the SDAP 1247. In embodiments, the SDAP 1247 may only be used in NRimplementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 1255 may configure, via one or more management service accesspoints (M-SAP), aspects of one or more protocol layers, which mayinclude one or more instances of PHY 1210, MAC 1220, RLC 1230, PDCP 1240and SDAP 1247. In embodiments, an instance of RRC 1255 may processrequests from and provide indications to one or more NAS entities 1257via one or more RRC-SAPs 1256. The main services and functions of theRRC 1255 may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included inMIBs or SIBs related to the NAS), broadcast of system informationrelated to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenanceand release of an RRC connection between the UE 601 and RAN 610 (e.g.,RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of point to point Radio Bearers, securityfunctions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurementconfiguration for UE measurement reporting. The MIBs and SIBs maycomprise one or more IEs, which may each comprise individual data fieldsor data structures.

The NAS 1257 may form the highest stratum of the control plane betweenthe UE 601 and the AMF 821. The NAS 1257 may support the mobility of theUEs 601 and the session management procedures to establish and maintainIP connectivity between the UE 601 and a P-GW in LTE systems.

According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities ofarrangement 1200 may be implemented in UEs 601, RAN nodes 611, AMF 821in NR implementations or MME 721 in LTE implementations, UPF 802 in NRimplementations or S-GW 722 and P-GW 723 in LTE implementations, or thelike to be used for control plane or user plane communications protocolstack between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one ormore protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of UE 601,gNB 611, AMF 821, etc. may communicate with a respective peer protocolentity that may be implemented in or on another device using theservices of respective lower layer protocol entities to perform suchcommunication. In some embodiments, a gNB-CU of the gNB 611 may host theRRC 1255, SDAP 1247, and PDCP 1240 of the gNB that controls theoperation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of the gNB 611 mayeach host the RLC 1230, MAC 1220, and PHY 1210 of the gNB 611.

In a first example, a control plane protocol stack may comprise, inorder from highest layer to lowest layer, NAS 1257, RRC 1255, PDCP 1240,RLC 1230, MAC 1220, and PHY 1210. In this example, upper layers 1260 maybe built on top of the NAS 1257, which includes an IP layer 1261, anSCTP 1262, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 1263.

In NR implementations, the AP 1263 may be an NG application protocollayer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1263 for the NG interface 613 defined between theNG-RAN node 611 and the AMF 821, or the AP 1263 may be an Xn applicationprotocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1263 for the Xn interface 612 that isdefined between two or more RAN nodes 611.

The NG-AP 1263 may support the functions of the NG interface 613 and maycomprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the NG-RAN node 611 and the AMF 821. The NG-AP 1263services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., servicesrelated to a UE 601) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., servicesrelated to the whole NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 611and AMF 821). These services may include functions including, but notlimited to: a paging function for the sending of paging requests toNG-RAN nodes 611 involved in a particular paging area; a UE contextmanagement function for allowing the AMF 821 to establish, modify,and/or release a UE context in the AMF 821 and the NG-RAN node 611; amobility function for UEs 601 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for intra-system HOsto support mobility within NG-RAN and inter-system HOs to supportmobility from/to EPS systems; a NAS Signaling Transport function fortransporting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 601 and AMF 821; a NASnode selection function for determining an association between the AMF821 and the UE 601; NG interface management function(s) for setting upthe NG interface and monitoring for errors over the NG interface; awarning message transmission function for providing means to transferwarning messages via NG interface or cancel ongoing broadcast of warningmessages; a Configuration Transfer function for requesting andtransferring of RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information,performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 611 viaCN 620; and/or other like functions.

The XnAP 1263 may support the functions of the Xn interface 612 and maycomprise XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. TheXnAP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the NG RAN 611 (or E-UTRAN 710), such as handoverpreparation and cancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures,UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN pagingprocedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The XnAPglobal procedures may comprise procedures that are not related to aspecific UE 601, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RANupdate procedures, cell activation procedures, and the like.

In LTE implementations, the AP 1263 may be an S1 Application Protocollayer (S1-AP) 1263 for the S1 interface 613 defined between an E-UTRANnode 611 and an MME, or the AP 1263 may be an X2 application protocollayer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1263 for the X2 interface 612 that is definedbetween two or more E-UTRAN nodes 611.

The S1 Application Protocol layer (S1-AP) 1263 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, theS1-AP may comprise S1-AP EPs. An S1-AP EP may be a unit of interactionbetween the E-UTRAN node 611 and an MME 721 within an LTE CN 620. TheS1-AP 1263 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The X2AP 1263 may support the functions of the X2 interface 612 and maycomprise X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. TheX2AP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the E-UTRAN 620, such as handover preparation andcancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures, UE contextretrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dualconnectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP globalprocedures may comprise procedures that are not related to a specific UE601, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indicationprocedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, andthe like.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 1262 mayprovide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP orXnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTEimplementations). The SCTP 1262 may ensure reliable delivery ofsignaling messages between the RAN node 611 and the AMF 821/MME 721based, in part, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP 1261. TheInternet Protocol layer (IP) 1261 may be used to perform packetaddressing and routing functionality. In some implementations the IPlayer 1261 may use point-to-point transmission to deliver and conveyPDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 611 may comprise L2 and L1 layercommunication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF toexchange information.

In a second example, a user plane protocol stack may comprise, in orderfrom highest layer to lowest layer, SDAP 1247, PDCP 1240, RLC 1230, MAC1220, and PHY 1210. The user plane protocol stack may be used forcommunication between the UE 601, the RAN node 611, and UPF 802 in NRimplementations or an S-GW 722 and P-GW 723 in LTE implementations. Inthis example, upper layers 1251 may be built on top of the SDAP 1247,and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer(UDP/IP) 1252, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocolfor the user plane layer (GTP-U) 1253, and a User Plane PDU layer (UPPDU) 1263.

The transport network layer 1254 (also referred to as a “transportlayer”) may be built on IP transport, and the GTP-U 1253 may be used ontop of the UDP/IP layer 1252 (comprising a UDP layer and IP layer) tocarry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the“Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packetsin any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

The GTP-U 1253 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS corenetwork and between the radio access network and the core network. Theuser data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPPformats, for example. The UDP/IP 1252 may provide checksums for dataintegrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the sourceand destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected dataflows. The RAN node 611 and the S-GW 722 may utilize an S1-U interfaceto exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer(e.g., PHY 1210), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 1220, RLC 1230, PDCP 1240,and/or SDAP 1247), the UDP/IP layer 1252, and the GTP-U 1253. The S-GW722 and the P-GW 723 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange userplane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer, an L2 layer, theUDP/IP layer 1252, and the GTP-U 1253. As discussed previously, NASprotocols may support the mobility of the UE 601 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 601 and the P-GW 723.

Moreover, although not shown by FIG. 12, an application layer may bepresent above the AP 1263 and/or the transport network layer 1254. Theapplication layer may be a layer in which a user of the UE 601, RAN node611, or other network element interacts with software applications beingexecuted, for example, by application circuitry 905 or applicationcircuitry 1005, respectively. The application layer may also provide oneor more interfaces for software applications to interact withcommunications systems of the UE 601 or RAN node 611, such as thebaseband circuitry 1110. In some implementations the IP layer and/or theapplication layer may provide the same or similar functionality aslayers 5-7, or portions thereof, of the Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model (e.g., OSI Layer 7—the application layer, OSI Layer 6—thepresentation layer, and OSI Layer 5—the session layer).

FIG. 13 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments. The components of the CN 720 may be implemented inone physical node or separate physical nodes including components toread and execute instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium). In embodiments, the components of CN 820 may beimplemented in a same or similar manner as discussed herein with regardto the components of CN 720. In some embodiments, NFV is utilized tovirtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions viaexecutable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storagemediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation ofthe CN 720 may be referred to as a network slice 1302, and individuallogical instantiations of the CN 720 may provide specific networkcapabilities and network characteristics. A logical instantiation of aportion of the CN 720 may be referred to as a network sub-slice 1304(e.g., the network sub-slice 1304 is shown to include the P-GW 723 andthe PCRF 726).

As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the likemay refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer toa concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. A network instance may refer to informationidentifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection androuting in case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. Anetwork slice instance may refer to a set of network functions (NFs)instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networkingresources) required to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see, e.g., FIG. 8), a network slice alwayscomprises a RAN part and a CN part. The support of network slicingrelies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled bydifferent PDU sessions. The network can realize the different networkslices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2configurations. The UE 801 provides assistance information for networkslice selection in an appropriate RRC message, if it has been providedby NAS. While the network can support large number of slices, the UEneed not support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

A network slice may include the CN 820 control plane and user plane NFs,NG-RANs 810 in a serving PLMN, and a N3IWF functions in the servingPLMN. Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAI and/or mayhave different SSTs. NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and eachnetwork slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slices maydiffer for supported features and network functions optimizations,and/or multiple network slice instances may deliver the sameservice/features but for different groups of UEs 801 (e.g., enterpriseusers). For example, individual network slices may deliver differentcommitted service(s) and/or may be dedicated to a particular customer orenterprise. In this example, each network slice may have differentS-NSSAIs with the same SST but with different slice differentiators.Additionally, a single UE may be served with one or more network sliceinstances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated with eight differentS-NSSAIs. Moreover, an AMF 821 instance serving an individual UE 801 maybelong to each of the network slice instances serving that UE.

Network Slicing in the NG-RAN 810 involves RAN slice awareness. RANslice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic fordifferent network slices, which have been pre-configured. Sliceawareness in the NG-RAN 810 is introduced at the PDU session level byindicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to a PDU session in all signalingthat includes PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 810supports the slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., the setof network functions that comprise each slice) is implementationdependent. The NG-RAN 810 selects the RAN part of the network sliceusing assistance information provided by the UE 801 or the 5GC 820,which unambiguously identifies one or more of the pre-configured networkslices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 810 also supports resource management andpolicy enforcement between slices as per SLAs. A single NG-RAN node maysupport multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 810 may also apply anappropriate RRM policy for the SLA in place to each supported slice. TheNG-RAN 810 may also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

The NG-RAN 810 may also use the UE assistance information for theselection of an AMF 821 during an initial attach, if available. TheNG-RAN 810 uses the assistance information for routing the initial NASto an AMF 821. If the NG-RAN 810 is unable to select an AMF 821 usingthe assistance information, or the UE 801 does not provide any suchinformation, the NG-RAN 810 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF821, which may be among a pool of AMFs 821. For subsequent accesses, theUE 801 provides a temp ID, which is assigned to the UE 801 by the 5GC820, to enable the NG-RAN 810 to route the NAS message to theappropriate AMF 821 as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 810 isaware of, and can reach, the AMF 821 that is associated with the tempID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

The NG-RAN 810 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 810resource isolation may be achieved by means of RRM policies andprotection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of sharedresources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for anotherslice. In some implementations, it is possible to fully dedicate NG-RAN810 resources to a certain slice. How NG-RAN 810 supports resourceisolation is implementation dependent.

Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness inthe NG-RAN 810 of the slices supported in the cells of its neighbors maybe beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. The sliceavailability may not change within the UE's registration area. TheNG-RAN 810 and the 5GC 820 are responsible to handle a service requestfor a slice that may or may not be available in a given area. Admissionor rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors such as supportfor the slice, availability of resources, support of the requestedservice by NG-RAN 810.

The UE 801 may be associated with multiple network slicessimultaneously. In case the UE 801 is associated with multiple slicessimultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and forintra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 801 tries to camp on the bestcell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities can beused to control the frequency on which the UE 801 camps. The 5GC 820 isto validate that the UE 801 has the rights to access a network slice.Prior to receiving an Initial Context Setup Request message, the NG-RAN810 may be allowed to apply some provisional/local policies, based onawareness of a particular slice that the UE 801 is requesting to access.During the initial context setup, the NG-RAN 810 is informed of theslice for which resources are being requested.

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore NFs, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physicalresources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware,storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be usedto execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, of a system 1400 to support NFV. The system 1400 isillustrated as including a VIM 1402, an NFVI 1404, an VNFM 1406, VNFs1408, an EM 1410, an NFVO 1412, and a NM 1414.

The VIM 1402 manages the resources of the NFVI 1404. The NFVI 1404 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 1400. The VIM 1402 may managethe life cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 1404 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of VMs associated with one or more physicalresources), track VM instances, track performance, fault and security ofVM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instancesand associated physical resources to other management systems.

The VNFM 1406 may manage the VNFs 1408. The VNFs 1408 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 1406 may manage the lifecycle of the VNFs 1408 and track performance, fault and security of thevirtual aspects of VNFs 1408. The EM 1410 may track the performance,fault and security of the functional aspects of VNFs 1408. The trackingdata from the VNFM 1406 and the EM 1410 may comprise, for example, PMdata used by the VIM 1402 or the NFVI 1404. Both the VNFM 1406 and theEM 1410 can scale up/down the quantity of VNFs of the system 1400.

The NFVO 1412 may coordinate, authorize, release and engage resources ofthe NFVI 1404 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., toexecute an EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 1414 may provide apackage of end-user functions with the responsibility for the managementof a network, which may include network elements with VNFs,non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of the VNFs mayoccur via the EM 1410).

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 15 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 1500 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 1510, one or more memory/storage devices1520, and one or more communication resources 1530, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 1540. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1502 may beexecuted to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1500.

The processors 1510 may include, for example, a processor 1512 and aprocessor 1514. The processor(s) 1510 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 1520 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1520 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1530 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1506 via anetwork 1508. For example, the communication resources 1530 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents..

Instructions 1550 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 1510 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 1550 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 1510 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1520, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 1550 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1500 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 1504 or the databases 1506.Accordingly, the memory of processors 1510, the memory/storage devices1520, the peripheral devices 1504, and the databases 1506 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

Example Procedures

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s),chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, ofFIGS. 6-14, or some other figure herein, may be configured to performone or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, orportions thereof. One such process is depicted in FIG. 16. FIG. 16illustrates a method 1600 of operating the system according toembodiments. For example, the method 1600 may include: generating orcausing to generate a service request message comprising access network(AN) parameters and service request parameters as shown by 1602; andtransmitting or causing to transmit the service request message to anext-generation NodeB (gNB) as shown by 1604.

Another such process is depicted in FIG. 17. FIG. 17 illustrates afurther method 1700 of operating the system according to embodiments.For example, the method 1700 may include: receiving or causing toreceive, from a user equipment (UE), a service request messagecomprising access network (AN) parameters and service request parametersas shown in 1702; generating or causing to generate an N2 messagecomprising N2 parameters as shown in 1704; and transmitting or causingto transmit the N2 message to an access management function (AMF) asshown in 1706.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth inone or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one ormore operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth inthe example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry asdescribed above in connection with one or more of the preceding figuresmay be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of theexamples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated witha UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above inconnection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow in the example section.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 includes an apparatus comprising: means for generating aservice request message comprising access network (AN) parameters andservice request parameters; and means for transmitting the servicerequest message to a next-generation NodeB (gNB).

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the AN parameters include: a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, oran establishment cause.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request message is triggered for requestingdata, and wherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request message is transmitted via a radioresource control (RRC) signal.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of examples 1-5 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment (UE) or aportion thereof

Example 7 includes an apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from auser equipment (UE), a service request message comprising access network(AN) parameters and service request parameters; means for generating anN2 message comprising N2 parameters; and means for transmitting the N2message to an access management function (AMF).

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 7 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the AN parameters include: a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, oran establishment cause.

Example 9 includes the apparatus of example 7 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of example 7 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the service request message is received via aradio resource control (RRC) signal.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of example 7 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the N2 parameters include: a fifthgeneration-system architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriberentity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public land mobile network(PLMN) identifier, location information, an establishment cause, or a UEcontext request.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of examples 7-11 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the apparatus is a next-generation NodeB (gNB)or a portion thereof

Example 13 includes an apparatus to: generate a service requestcomprising access network (AN) parameters and service requestparameters; and transmit the service request to a next-generation NodeB(gNB).

Example 14 includes the apparatus of example 13 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the AN parameters include: a fifthgeneration-system architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriberentity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public land mobile network(PLMN) identifier, or an establishment cause.

Example 15 includes the apparatus of example 13 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.

Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 13 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the service request is triggered for requestingdata, and wherein the service request further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.

Example 17 includes the apparatus of example 13 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the service request message is transmitted viaa radio resource control (RRC) signal.

Example 18 includes the apparatus of examples 13-17 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment (UE) or aportion thereof.

Example 19 includes an apparatus to: receive, from a user equipment(UE), a service request comprising access network (AN) parameters andservice request parameters; generate an N2 service request messagecomprising N2 parameters; and transmit the N2 service request message toan access management function (AMF).

Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 19 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the AN parameters include: a fifthgeneration-system architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriberentity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public land mobile network(PLMN) identifier, or an establishment cause.

Example 21 includes the apparatus of example 19 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.

Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 19 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the service request is received via a radioresource control (RRC) signal.

Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 19 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the N2 parameters include: a fifthgeneration-system architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriberentity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public land mobile network(PLMN) identifier, location information, an establishment cause, or a UEcontext request.

Example 24 includes the apparatus of examples 19-23 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the apparatus is a next-generation NodeB (gNB)or a portion thereof.

Example 25 includes a method comprising: generating or causing togenerate a service request message comprising access network (AN)parameters and service request parameters; and transmitting or causingto transmit the service request message to a next-generation NodeB(gNB).

Example 26 includes the method of example 25 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the AN parameters include: a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, oran establishment cause.

Example 27 includes the method of example 25 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.

Example 28 includes the method of example 25 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request message is triggered for requestingdata, and wherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.

Example 29 includes the method of example 25 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request message is transmitted via a radioresource control (RRC) signal.

Example 30 includes the method of examples 25-29 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the method is performed by a user equipment(UE) or a portion thereof.

Example 31 includes a method comprising: receiving or causing toreceive, from a user equipment (UE), a service request messagecomprising access network (AN) parameters and service requestparameters; generating or causing to generate an N2 message comprisingN2 parameters; and transmitting or causing to transmit the N2 message toan access management function (AMF).

Example 32 includes the method of example 31 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the AN parameters include: a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, oran establishment cause.

Example 33 includes the method of example 31 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.

Example 34 includes the method of example 31 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the service request message is received via a radioresource control (RRC) signal.

Example 35 includes the method of example 31 and/or some other examplesherein, wherein the N2 parameters include: a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier,location information, an establishment cause, or a UE context request.

Example 36 includes the apparatus of examples 31-35 and/or some otherexamples herein, wherein the apparatus is a next-generation NodeB (gNB)or a portion thereof.

Example 37 may include service Request procedures in Information CentricNetworking for Next Generation Cellular Networks (beyond 5G).

Example 38 may include a procedure for a UE Triggered Service Request.

Example 39 may include a procedure for a Network Triggered ServiceRequest.

Example 40 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-39, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 41 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-39, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 42 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-39, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 43 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-39, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 44 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-39, or portions thereof.

Example 45 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-39, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 46 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example 47 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 48 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 49 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviationsmay apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

-   -   3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project    -   4G Fourth Generation    -   5G Fifth Generation    -   5GC 5G Core network    -   ACK Acknowledgement    -   AF Application Function    -   AM Acknowledged Mode    -   AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate    -   AMF Access and Mobility Management Function    -   AN Access Network    -   ANR Automatic Neighbour Relation    -   AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point    -   API Application Programming Interface    -   APN Access Point Name    -   ARP Allocation and Retention Priority    -   ARQ Automatic Repeat Request    -   AS Access Stratum    -   ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One    -   AUSF Authentication Server Function    -   AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise    -   BCH Broadcast Channel    -   BER Bit Error Ratio    -   BFD Beam Failure Detection    -   BLER Block Error Rate    -   BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying    -   BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server    -   BSS Business Support System    -   BS Base Station    -   BSR Buffer Status Report    -   BW Bandwidth    -   BWP Bandwidth Part    -   C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority    -   CAPEX CAPital EXpenditure    -   CBRA Contention Based Random Access    -   CC Component Carrier, Country Code, Cryptographic Checksum    -   CCA Clear Channel Assessment    -   CCE Control Channel Element    -   CCCH Common Control Channel    -   CE Coverage Enhancement    -   CDM Content Delivery Network    -   CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access    -   CFRA Contention Free Random Access    -   CG Cell Group    -   CI Cell Identity    -   CID Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method)    -   CIM Common Information Model    -   CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio    -   CK Cipher Key    -   CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory    -   CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service    -   CMD Command    -   CMS Cloud Management System    -   CO Conditional Optional    -   CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point    -   CORESET Control Resource Set    -   COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf    -   CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point    -   CPD Connection Point Descriptor    -   CPE Customer Premise Equipment    -   CPICH Common Pilot Channel    -   CQI Channel Quality Indicator    -   CPU CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit    -   C/R Command/Response field bit    -   CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN    -   CRB Common Resource Block    -   CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check    -   CRI Channel-State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS        Resource Indicator    -   C-RNTI Cell RNTI    -   CS Circuit Switched    -   CSAR Cloud Service Archive    -   CSI Channel-State Information    -   CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement    -   CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal    -   CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power    -   CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal received quality    -   CSI-SINR CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio    -   CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access    -   CSMA/CA CSMA with collision avoidance    -   CSS Common Search Space, Cell-specific Search Space    -   CTS Clear-to-Send    -   CW Codeword    -   CWS Contention Window Size    -   D2D Device-to-Device    -   DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current    -   DCI Downlink Control Information    -   DF Deployment Flavour    -   DL Downlink    -   DMTF Distributed Management Task Force    -   DPDK Data Plane Development Kit    -   DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal    -   DN Data network    -   DRB Data Radio Bearer    -   DRS Discovery Reference Signal    -   DRX Discontinuous Reception    -   DSL Domain Specific Language. Digital Subscriber Line    -   DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer    -   DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot    -   E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network    -   E2E End-to-End    -   ECCA extended clear channel assessment, extended CCA    -   ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE    -   ED Energy Detection    -   EDGE Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)    -   EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function    -   EGPRS Enhanced GPRS    -   EIR Equipment Identity Register    -   eLAA enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, enhanced LAA    -   EM Element Manager    -   eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband    -   EMS Element Management System    -   eNB evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B    -   EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity    -   EPC Evolved Packet Core    -   EPDCCH enhanced PDCCH, enhanced Physical Downlink Control Cannel    -   EPRE Energy per resource element    -   EPS Evolved Packet System    -   EREG enhanced REG, enhanced resource element groups    -   ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute    -   ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System    -   eUICC embedded UICC, embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card    -   E-UTRA Evolved UTRA    -   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN    -   EV2X Enhanced V2X    -   F1AP F1 Application Protocol    -   F1-C F1 Control plane interface    -   F1-U F1 User plane interface    -   FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel    -   FACCH/F Fast Associated Control Channel/Full rate    -   FACCH/H Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate    -   FACH Forward Access Channel    -   FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel    -   FB Functional Block    -   FBI Feedback Information    -   FCC Federal Communications Commission    -   FCCH Frequency Correction CHannel    -   FDD Frequency Division Duplex    -   FDM Frequency Division Multiplex    -   FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   FE Front End    -   FEC Forward Error Correction    -   FFS For Further Study    -   FFT Fast Fourier Transformation    -   feLAA further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, further        enhanced LAA    -   FN Frame Number    -   FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array    -   FR Frequency Range    -   G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network    -   GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.: GlobalNavigation Satellite System)

-   -   gNB Next Generation NodeB    -   gNB-CU gNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB centralized        unit    -   gNB-DU gNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB distributed        unit    -   GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System    -   GPRS General Packet Radio Service    -   GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Groupe Special        Mobile    -   GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol    -   GTP-U GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane    -   GTS Go To Sleep Signal (related to WUS)    -   GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier    -   GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity    -   HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request    -   HANDO, HO Handover    -   HFN HyperFrame Number    -   HHO Hard Handover    -   HLR Home Location Register    -   HN Home Network    -   HO Handover    -   HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network    -   HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access    -   HSN Hopping Sequence Number    -   HSPA High Speed Packet Access    -   HSS Home Subscriber Server    -   HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access    -   HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol    -   HTTPS Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http/1.1        over SSL, i.e. port 443)    -   I-Block Information Block    -   ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identification    -   ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination    -   ID Identity, identifier    -   IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform    -   IE Information element    -   IBE In-Band Emission    -   IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers    -   IEI Information Element Identifier    -   IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length    -   IETF Internet Engineering Task Force    -   IF Infrastructure    -   IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia    -   IMC IMS Credentials    -   IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity    -   IMGI International mobile group identity    -   IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity    -   IMPU IP Multimedia PUblic identity    -   IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem    -   IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity    -   IoT Internet of Things    -   IP Internet Protocol    -   Ipsec IP Security, Internet Protocol Security    -   IP-CAN IP-Connectivity Access Network    -   IP-M IP Multicast    -   IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4    -   IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6    -   IR Infrared    -   IS In Sync    -   IRP Integration Reference Point    -   ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network    -   ISIM IM Services Identity Module    -   ISO International Organisation for Standardisation    -   ISP Internet Service Provider    -   IWF Interworking-Function    -   I-WLAN Interworking WLAN    -   K Constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM Individual        key    -   kB Kilobyte (1000 bytes)    -   kbps kilo-bits per second    -   Kc Ciphering key    -   Ki Individual subscriber authentication key    -   KPI Key Performance Indicator    -   KQI Key Quality Indicator    -   KSI Key Set Identifier    -   ksps kilo-symbols per second    -   KVM Kernel Virtual Machine    -   L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)    -   L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power    -   L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)    -   L3 Layer 3 (network layer)    -   LAA Licensed Assisted Access    -   LAN Local Area Network    -   LBT Listen Before Talk    -   LCM LifeCycle Management    -   LCR Low Chip Rate    -   LCS Location Services    -   LCID Logical Channel ID    -   LI Layer Indicator    -   LLC Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility    -   LPLMN Local PLMN    -   LPP LTE Positioning Protocol    -   LSB Least Significant Bit    -   LTE Long Term Evolution    -   LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation    -   LWIP LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel    -   LTE Long Term Evolution    -   M2M Machine-to-Machine    -   MAC Medium Access Control (protocol layering context)    -   MAC Message authentication code (security/encryption context)    -   MAC-A MAC used for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3        context)    -   MAC-I MAC used for data integrity of signalling messages (TSG T        WG3 context)    -   MANO Management and Orchestration    -   MBMS Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service    -   MB SFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency        Network    -   MCC Mobile Country Code    -   MCG Master Cell Group    -   MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time    -   MCS Modulation and coding scheme    -   MDAF Management Data Analytics Function    -   MDAS Management Data Analytics Service    -   MDT Minimization of Drive Tests    -   ME Mobile Equipment    -   MeNB master eNB    -   MER Message Error Ratio    -   MGL Measurement Gap Length    -   MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period    -   MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base    -   MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output    -   MLC Mobile Location Centre    -   MM Mobility Management    -   MME Mobility Management Entity    -   MN Master Node    -   MO Measurement Object, Mobile Originated    -   MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel    -   MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control CHannel    -   MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared CHannel    -   MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access CHannel    -   MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching    -   MS Mobile Station    -   MSB Most Significant Bit    -   MSC Mobile Switching Centre    -   MSI Minimum System Information, MCH Scheduling Information    -   MSID Mobile Station Identifier    -   MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number    -   MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number    -   MT Mobile Terminated, Mobile Termination    -   MTC Machine-Type Communications    -   mMTC massive MTC, massive Machine-Type Communications    -   MU-MIMO Multi User MIMO    -   MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS    -   NACK Negative Acknowledgement    -   NAI Network Access Identifier    -   NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum layer    -   NCT Network Connectivity Topology    -   NEC Network Capability Exposure    -   NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity    -   NEF Network Exposure Function    -   NF Network Function    -   NFP Network Forwarding Path    -   NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor    -   NFV Network Functions Virtualization    -   NFVI NFV Infrastructure    -   NFVO NFV Orchestrator    -   NG Next Generation, Next Gen    -   NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity    -   NM Network Manager    -   NMS Network Management System    -   N-PoP Network Point of Presence    -   NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB    -   NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel    -   NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control CHannel    -   NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared CHannel    -   NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access CHannel    -   NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared CHannel    -   NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal    -   NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   NR New Radio, Neighbour Relation    -   NRF NF Repository Function    -   NRS Narrowband Reference Signal    -   NS Network Service    -   NSA Non-Standalone operation mode    -   NSD Network Service Descriptor    -   NSR Network Service Record    -   NS SAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information    -   S-NNSAI Single-NS SAI    -   NS SF Network Slice Selection Function    -   NW Network    -   NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband WUS    -   NZP Non-Zero Power    -   O&M Operation and Maintenance    -   ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit—type 2    -   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing    -   OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   OOB Out-of-band    -   OOS Out of Sync    -   OPEX OPerating EXpense    -   OSI Other System Information    -   OSS Operations Support System    -   OTA over-the-air    -   PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio    -   PAR Peak to Average Ratio    -   PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel    -   PC Power Control, Personal Computer    -   PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC    -   PCell Primary Cell    -   PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity    -   PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function    -   PCF Policy Control Function    -   PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function    -   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence        Protocol layer    -   PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol    -   PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network    -   PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel    -   PDU Protocol Data Unit    -   PEI Permanent Equipment Identifiers    -   PFD Packet Flow Description    -   P-GW PDN Gateway    -   PHICH Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel    -   PHY Physical layer    -   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network    -   PIN Personal Identification Number    -   PM Performance Measurement    -   PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator    -   PNF Physical Network Function    -   PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor    -   PNFR Physical Network Function Record    -   POC PTT over Cellular    -   PP, PTP Point-to-Point    -   PPP Point-to-Point Protocol    -   PRACH Physical RACH    -   PRB Physical resource block    -   PRG Physical resource block group    -   ProSe Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Service    -   PRS Positioning Reference Signal    -   PRR Packet Reception Radio    -   PS Packet Services    -   PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel    -   PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel    -   PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel    -   PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel    -   PSCell Primary SCell    -   PSS Primary Synchronization Signal    -   PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network    -   PT-RS Phase-tracking reference signal    -   PTT Push-to-Talk    -   PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel    -   PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation    -   QCI QoS class of identifier    -   QCL Quasi co-location    -   QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier    -   QoS Quality of Service    -   QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying    -   QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System    -   RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI    -   RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst    -   RACH Random Access Channel    -   RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service    -   RAN Radio Access Network    -   RAND RANDom number (used for authentication)    -   RAR Random Access Response    -   RAT Radio Access Technology    -   RAU Routing Area Update    -   RB Resource block, Radio Bearer    -   RBG Resource block group    -   REG Resource Element Group    -   Rel Release    -   REQ REQuest    -   RF Radio Frequency    -   RI Rank Indicator    -   RIV Resource indicator value    -   RL Radio Link    -   RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer    -   RLC AM RLC Acknowledged Mode    -   RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode    -   RLF Radio Link Failure    -   RLM Radio Link Monitoring    -   RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM    -   RM Registration Management    -   RMC Reference Measurement Channel    -   RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information    -   RN Relay Node    -   RNC Radio Network Controller    -   RNL Radio Network Layer    -   RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier    -   ROHC RObust Header Compression    -   RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control layer    -   RRM Radio Resource Management    -   RS Reference Signal    -   RSRP Reference Signal Received Power    -   RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality    -   RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator    -   RSU Road Side Unit    -   RSTD Reference Signal Time difference    -   RTP Real Time Protocol    -   RTS Ready-To-Send    -   RTT Round Trip Time    -   Rx Reception, Receiving, Receiver    -   S1AP S1 Application Protocol    -   S1-MME S1 for the control plane    -   S1-U S1 for the user plane    -   S-GW Serving Gateway    -   S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier    -   SA Standalone operation mode    -   SAE System Architecture Evolution    -   SAP Service Access Point    -   SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor    -   SAPI Service Access Point Identifier    -   SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC    -   SCell Secondary Cell    -   SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   SCG Secondary Cell Group    -   SCM Security Context Management    -   SCS Subcarrier Spacing    -   SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol    -   SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation        Protocol layer    -   SDL Supplementary Downlink    -   SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function    -   SDP Service Discovery Protocol (Bluetooth related)    -   SDSF Structured Data Storage Function    -   SDU Service Data Unit    -   SEAF Security Anchor Function    -   SeNB secondary eNB    -   SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy    -   SFI Slot format indication    -   SFTD Space-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and frame timing        difference    -   SFN System Frame Number    -   SgNB Secondary gNB    -   SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node    -   S-GW Serving Gateway    -   SI System Information    -   SI-RNTI System Information RNTI    -   SIB System Information Block    -   SIM Subscriber Identity Module    -   SIP Session Initiated Protocol    -   SiP System in Package    -   SL Sidelink    -   SLA Service Level Agreement    -   SM Session Management    -   SMF Session Management Function    -   SMS Short Message Service    -   SMSF SMS Function    -   SMTC SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration    -   SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number    -   SoC System on Chip    -   SON Self-Organizing Network    -   SpCell Special Cell    -   SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI    -   SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling    -   SQN Sequence number    -   SR Scheduling Request    -   SRB Signalling Radio Bearer    -   SRS Sounding Reference Signal    -   SS Synchronization Signal    -   SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS/PBCH Block    -   SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal        Block Resource Indicator    -   SSC Session and Service Continuity    -   SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received        Power    -   SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received        Quality    -   SS-SINR Synchronization Signal based Signal to Noise and        Interference Ratio    -   SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   SSSG Search Space Set Group    -   SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator    -   SST Slice/Service Types    -   SU-MIMO Single User MIMO    -   SUL Supplementary Uplink    -   TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area    -   TAC Tracking Area Code    -   TAG Timing Advance Group    -   TAU Tracking Area Update    -   TB Transport Block    -   TBS Transport Block Size    -   TBD To Be Defined    -   TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator    -   TCP Transmission Communication Protocol    -   TDD Time Division Duplex    -   TDM Time Division Multiplexing    -   TDMA Time Division Multiple Access    -   TE Terminal Equipment    -   TEID Tunnel End Point Identifier    -   TFT Traffic Flow Template    -   TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity    -   TNL Transport Network Layer    -   TPC Transmit Power Control    -   TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator    -   TR Technical Report    -   TRP, TRxP Transmission Reception Point    -   TRS Tracking Reference Signal    -   TRx Transceiver    -   TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standard    -   TTI Transmission Time Interval    -   Tx Transmission, Transmitting, Transmitter    -   U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter    -   UCI Uplink Control Information    -   UE User Equipment    -   UDM Unified Data Management    -   UDP User Datagram Protocol    -   UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function    -   UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card    -   UL Uplink    -   UM Unacknowledged Mode    -   UML Unified Modelling Language    -   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System    -   UP User Plane    -   UPF User Plane Function    -   URI Uniform Resource Identifier    -   URL Uniform Resource Locator    -   URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency    -   USB Universal Serial Bus    -   USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module    -   USS UE-specific search space    -   UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access    -   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network    -   UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot    -   V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastruction    -   V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian    -   V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle    -   V2X Vehicle-to-everything    -   VIM Virtualized Infrastructure Manager    -   VL Virtual Link,    -   VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network    -   VM Virtual Machine    -   VNF Virtualized Network Function    -   VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph    -   VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor    -   VNFM VNF Manager    -   VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol    -   VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network    -   VPN Virtual Private Network    -   VRB Virtual Resource Block    -   WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access    -   WLAN Wireless Local Area Network    -   WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network    -   WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network    -   X2-C X2-Control plane    -   X2-U X2-User plane    -   XML eXtensible Markup Language    -   XRES EXpected user RESponse    -   XOR eXclusive OR    -   ZC Zadoff-Chu    -   ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms anddefinitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussedherein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includeshardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared,dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), ahigh-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC),digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to providethe described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry mayexecute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at leastsome of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also referto a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination ofcircuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the programcode used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In theseembodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code maybe referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording,storing, and/or transferring digital data. The term “processorcircuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or morebaseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), asingle-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, aquad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing orotherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as programcode, software modules, and/or functional processes. The terms“application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be consideredsynonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between twoor more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may referto one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces,peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or thelike.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device withradio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user ofnetwork resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment”or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as,client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobileunit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station,access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurableradio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wireddevice or any computing device including a wireless communicationsinterface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical orvirtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway,server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any typeinterconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or componentsthereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” mayrefer to various components of a computer that are communicativelycoupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or“system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiplecomputing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another andconfigured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used hereinrefers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g.,software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide aspecific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machineimage to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizesor emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide aspecific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtualdevice, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment,and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, suchas computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPUtime, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardwaretime or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports ornetwork sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage,storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or thelike. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/ornetwork resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A“virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or networkresources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application,device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communicationresource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computerdevices/systems via a communications network. The term “systemresources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services,and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources maybe considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects orservices, accessible through a server where such system resources resideon a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium,either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or adata stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalentto “communications channel,” “data communications channel,”“transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,”“data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequencycarrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or mediumthrough which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” asused herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT forthe purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used hereinrefers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivativesthereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another,may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other butstill cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one ormore other elements are coupled or connected between the elements thatare said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” maymean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another.The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elementsmay be in contact with one another by a means of communication includingthrough a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wirelesscommunication channel or ink, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containingone or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of aninformation element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configurationconfigured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on theprimary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initialconnection establishment procedure or initiates the connectionre-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UEperforms random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Syncprocedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radioresources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cellscomprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UEconfigured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cellcomprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cellscomprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell ofthe SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers tothe Pcell.

1. A method of operating a system for making a service request inInformation Centric Networking (ICN) for cellular networks comprising:generating, by a user equipment (UE), a service request messagecomprising access network (AN) parameters and service requestparameters, wherein the AN parameters include a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, oran establishment cause; and transmitting, by the UE, the service requestmessage to a base station (BS).
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theservice request parameters include security parameters.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the service request message is triggered for requestingdata, and wherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the service request message is transmitted via a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signal.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingresponding to a RRC connection reconfiguration from the BS, wherein theRRC connection reconfiguration is based on ICN information.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the RRC connection reconfiguration and theICN information are based on an N2 Request received by the BS, the N2Request including one or more of information from ICN-CF, securitycontext, mobility restriction list, subscribed UE-Aggregate Minimum BitRate (AMBR), Mobility Management (MM) Non-Access Stratum (NAS) ServiceAccept, list of recommended cells, UE radio capability, core networkassistance information and tracing requirements.
 7. The method of claim5, further comprising forwarding uplink data to the BS using user planeradio resources resulting from the RRC connection reconfiguration.
 8. Anon-transitory computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by a system for making a service request inInformation Centric Networking (ICN) for cellular networks, cause thesystem to perform operations comprising: generating a service requestmessage comprising access network (AN) parameters and service requestparameters, wherein the AN parameters include a fifth generation-systemarchitecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI)parameter, a selected public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, oran establishment cause; and transmitting the service request message toa base station (BS).
 9. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 8, wherein the service request parameters include securityparameters.
 10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8,wherein the service request message is triggered for requesting data,and wherein the service request message further includes aninformation-centric networking (ICN) name.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the service request messageis transmitted via a radio resource control (RRC) signal.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein theoperations further comprise responding to a RRC connectionreconfiguration from the BS, wherein the RRC connection reconfigurationis based on ICN information.
 13. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 12, wherein the RRC connection reconfiguration and theICN information are based on an N2 Request received by the BS, the N2Request including one or more of information from ICN-CF, securitycontext, mobility restriction list, subscribed UE-Aggregate Minimum BitRate (AMBR), Mobility Management (MM) Non-Access Stratum (NAS) ServiceAccept, list of recommended cells, UE radio capability, core networkassistance information and tracing requirements.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the operations furthercomprise forwarding uplink data to the BS using user plane radioresources resulting from the RRC connection reconfiguration.
 15. Asystem for making a service request in Information Centric Networking(ICN) for cellular networks comprising: processor circuitry configuredto generate a service request message comprising access network (AN)parameters and service request parameters, wherein the AN parametersinclude a fifth generation-system architecture evolution-temporarymobile subscriber entity (5G-S-TMSI) parameter, a selected public landmobile network (PLMN) identifier, or an establishment cause; and radiofrequency circuitry, coupled to the processor circuitry, configured totransmit the service request message to a base station (BS).
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the service request parameters includesecurity parameters.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the servicerequest message is triggered for requesting data, and wherein theservice request message further includes an information-centricnetworking (ICN) name.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the servicerequest message is transmitted via a radio resource control (RRC)signal.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor circuitry isfurther configured to respond to a RRC connection reconfiguration fromthe BS, wherein the RRC connection reconfiguration is based on ICNinformation.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the RRC connectionreconfiguration and the ICN information are based on an N2 Requestreceived by the BS, the N2 Request including one or more of informationfrom ICN-CF, security context, mobility restriction list, subscribedUE-Aggregate Minimum Bit Rate (AMBR), Mobility Management (MM)Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Service Accept, list of recommended cells, UEradio capability, core network assistance information and tracingrequirements.